concerts

The Chiara Quartet is pleased to announce that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has selected the group to be its quartet-in-residence for the 2015-2016 season. The residency begins with a performance of all 3 Brahms Quartets, performed entirely by heart, and includes 3 other exciting performances. Details can be found on our performances page.

During their 14th season performing together, the Chiara Quartet is moving forward by taking a cue from the past. Harkening back to a tradition that is centuries old and still common amongst soloists, the Chiara Quartet has adapted to a new way of performing: sans printed sheet music. For almost all of the Quartet’s upcoming concerts, they’ll be performing by heart. After spending countless hours working towards playing their repertoire from memory, they now feel that the sheet music is a distraction to the performance, instead of an aid.

Of the process, the Chiara’s cellist Gregory Beaver says: "The act of performing from memory has been challenging for us. Each member must find a way to know the music inside and out. But the payback for each of us is equally rewarding, bringing us that much closer together in our music-making."

watch

from a live performance at Adelphi University, the last movement of Bartok's 5th Quartet